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Scott Stringer, Jewish Leaders Call for Action After Swastika Discovery

By DNAinfo Staff on January 10, 2012 2:17pm  | Updated on January 10, 2012 5:37pm

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and Jewish leaders called for action after the discovery of several swastikas on storefronts in Midtown.
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and Jewish leaders called for action after the discovery of several swastikas on storefronts in Midtown.
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DNAinfo/Ben Fractenberg

By Trevor Kapp

Special to DNAinfo

MIDTOWN — Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer spoke out Tuesday against a recent string of swastikas scrawled across Midtown storefront windows, calling it ''a crime against humanity'' and urging New Yorkers to help track down the people "spewing this hate."

Four swastikas were discovered by a security guard about 4:30 p.m. Sunday near Bryant Park. The guard noticed the drawing on the front window of the Penguin clothing store at 1077 Sixth Ave., according to the New York Post.

Shortly thereafter, the guard and the store manager found four additional swastikas drawn with the same pen on the windows of a nearby bookstore, supply store and office building, the Post added. 

Penguin Clothing Store at 1077 Sixth Ave., where a swastika was discovered scrawled on the window, Jan. 8, 2011.
Penguin Clothing Store at 1077 Sixth Ave., where a swastika was discovered scrawled on the window, Jan. 8, 2011.
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DNAinfo/Trevor Kapp

Police reportedly dusted the windows for fingerprints, but were unable to find any. Cops were reviewing video from a nearby camera.

"We are committed to stopping this trend of hatred that goes against everything this city believes in," Stringer said. "These kinds of disgusting, disgraceful acts have no place in New York and in our society."

This incident is the latest in a recent trend of anti-Semitic vandalism and attacks across the city.

On Nov. 12, multiple cars were set on fire and were defaced with anti-Semitic graffiti in Midwood, Brooklyn. Four days later, a sign at Avenue J, also in Midwood, was spray-painted to read "Avenue Jew." On Nov. 22, a man was stabbed on a Brooklyn subway platform by two others who had been making anti-Semitic slurs, Stringer said.

Ron Meier, of the Anti-Defamation League, said his organization is offering $2,500 for information that leads to an arrest in the Midtown case.

"The swastika is the worst symbol of hate known to mankind," he said. "A hateful attack on any group, be it Jews or others, is an attack on all minorities, all those who are vulnerable in society."

At a separate, unrelated press conference in Midtown today, Mayor Bloomberg said he is taking this latest act very seriously.

"I don't know what goes through the minds of people that do that," he said. "The swastika is a symbol of a terrible period in human history. Why anybody would want to use it, I don't know."
No suspects have been arrested in any of the recent anti-Semitic acts, Stringer said.

The NYPD is reviewing surveillance from a camera near Bryant Park to see if it caught an image of the suspect, he added.